For thermal and acoustic insulation of a vehicle cabin, in particular in commercial aircraft, insulation packages are arranged between the interior wall of the cabin and the exterior skin of the vehicle. In widespread use are insulating packages that comprise a bulky material between two foils and that are attached, by means of disc-shaped elements, for example fastening plates, to correspondingly arranged elongated fastening spikes or fastening pins, to the exterior skin of the vehicle and/or to stiffening elements such as frame elements or stringers of the exterior skin of the vehicle.
In order to provide and protect a lead through opening for such elongated fastening pins, frequently foam material rings are used on which the attachment plates establish contact from the outside, and, by means of snap-on lugs or threads of the fastening pins, locally press the insulation packages concerned against the exterior skin of the vehicle and against frame elements of the vehicle's bodywork or fuselage. Such a concept is, for example, presented in DE 10 2006 023 209 A1 and in WO 2007 131 583 A1.
Due to the integration of the foam material rings, the manufacture of corresponding insulation packages is relatively time-consuming and expensive. The use of a multitude of foam material rings in each and every insulation package, with a corresponding number of elongated fastening pins on the exterior skin of the vehicle, and the also corresponding number of fastening plates or other disc-shaped fastening elements that are to be affixed requires a lot of time when fitting out the cabin during production of the vehicle. Furthermore, the foam material rings are a weak element in relation to noise insulation behavior and water resistance. In vehicle bodywork and fuselages which in future will be made from fiber reinforced materials, for example CFRP, with novel geometric shapes of stiffening components such as stringers and frame elements the use of conventional elongated fastening pins will be hard to implement or will be impossible. It would, for example, be necessary, instead of a simple clamping connection or snap-on connection to implement an adhesive connection to arrange the fastening pins on the vehicle body or on the aircraft fuselage. This would also extend the time needed to fit out the vehicle.
In order to reduce the time required to fit out a vehicle cabin, it might be advantageous not to tie insulation packages for thermal and acoustic insulation by means of a multitude of foam material rings on fastening pins to the exterior skin of the vehicle. Furthermore, in order to improve the water resistance and the sound-insulating characteristics of the insulation packages, it would be sensible to largely do without the use of such foam material rings while at the same time achieve a reduction in costs.
Accordingly, it may be an object of the invention to propose a fastening element by means of which reliable fastening of insulation packages to the exterior skin of a vehicle may be ensured without having to make excessive use of foam rings that are incorporated in the insulation packages. It may be a further object of the invention to do without excessive use of conventional fastening pins on the exterior skin of the vehicle. In addition, other objects, desirable features, and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.